Twin draft-gear.



C. G. FARMER. TWIN DRAFT GEAR. APPLIOATION FILED MAB. 1, 1912.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914;

Specification of Letters Patent. la,

'swim nearer-osare..

.application filed March 1, i912. {serie} No. @Se/l.

To aZZ whom it may oaf/wem Be it known that l, @man C; FARMER;

a eitizen'oi the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county olfCool: and State or" illinois, have invented new and usefullinprm'einents in Twin DraftGear, of which the Jlollowing is aspecification.

This invention relates to dra'it gear or railway cars, and moreparticularly to a draft gear attachment for a twin draft gearinstallation. l

ln heavy railway service, particularly on large locomotives, it has beenproposed to employ two draft gear units in place of one heretoforeemployed, in 'order to increase the eapacity of the draft gear to resistshocks due to ouiing and draft move ments. These draft rear units aremounted side by side and it has been found in prac tice that Where theusual forniof follower plate is employedn there is liable to be anUneven or non-uniform cinepresa-sion of the draft gears due to thedi'lclilty of provid ing two gears each having the saine cornpressiveresistance.

The principal object oi roy invention is to provide a twin draft gearattachment having` means for insuring.; a nni'iorsn conr pressivemovement 'of the draft units under baiting and draft stresses.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following more detaileddescription of a construction embodying` my invention.

ln the accompanying drawinglllignre l is a vertical longitudinal sectionoi a. twin draft gear installation embodying my inv' provexnent, thesection being taken on, the line B--B of Fig. 2; Fig. a. planriewthereof, partly in section; 3 a transverse section thereof oil. tne line2 A of Fig. l; Fig. l an isometric projection of the rear followerplate;v Fig 5 an isometric projection 01'. the front follower plate; andFig. 6 an inverted isometric projection of the front follower plate.

As shown in the drawing, a draft gear easing' l, preferably a steelcasting, suitably secured to and between the usual ear center sills 2.Said casing has a Continuous top formingJ a roof over the draft gears,

but the lower side is open to permit the installation and removal of thedraft gear parte. Mounted Within tlie easing l are follower plates 3 andel. the rear follower plate Bliaving side walls 5, a top wall 6,

'i the :trent follower plate having side lis 9? a 'lower wall 19, and .airont Wall ll. The side walls of the follower plates are partly cataway'a shown, 'to permit tlie side walls of one iollower plate to restin. the spaces thereby and e rear wall Y Jformed in the side wells ofother 'foi-- lower plate,

`Witliin the lioiolilre space formed oy tlie iront and rear followerplates are mounted the draft gear unitsai sii-cli 'tie friction draftgears 12 and 1.3. The follower plates and 'the draft gear units aresupported in position by soi straps lsf suitably se cured at the irontand rear portions to the fasing l, tlie iront follower plate being;l

adapted to 4rest on said straps. T usual yoke 8 is preferably arrangedintermediately oi' the draitgears and i3 and .may 'oe secured in tlieusual manner to the drawliar ifi 'The front follower plate llis erablyprovided on iront wall all lwith a concave surface le Emailing a rockerlicor-- iner for a convex shaped projection l? on a block 18 carriedbythe draw-l ar l5 and rear follower plate El provided with a similarconcave surface lf? :forming a rocker bearing ier a convex shapedproeotion. 2() in the interior oi the rear end of the yolre ll. Thefront follower plate l bears against stop members ill formed on. theeasing l while tige rear follower plate 3 bears against stop members 22also formed on the easing; l, 1

VWhen the draft gear is :not 'ander Stress the parts are disposed asshown more clearly in l, with the front and rear follower plates inengagement respectively with tlic front and rear ends of' the dra litgear nril's l@ and ifi. lt will he notedV that a Certain space existsbetween the front wall ll, of the follower plate a and the wall (i oriollower plate 3 and a similar space is provided between the rear walli' oi the follower plaie and the wall 'l0 of the follower plaie fl.

These spaces permit of relative longitndina movement of the followerplates and are lin ited in extent to an amoiiint slightly less than themovement necessary to ooinpress the' draft gear solid. In this mannerthe draft gear 'units are protected 'from excessive shocks and anystresses in excess oi' ille eapacity of the gears are transmittedthrough the follower plates directly to the casing 1. The side walls ofthe iollower plates are adapted to' bear against die inner faces of theeasing; l when the draft gear in ad tion, and in order to eliminate asmuch irietion as possible', the inner Walls of the easing l may beprovided with projecting bearing faces to form guide surfaces for thefollower plates ln operation, vupon the. application of a battingstress, the front follower plate 4 is moved rearwardly away from thestops 2l by the draw-bar l5, compressing the draft gear units, and if itshould happen that one draft gear unit offers less resistance tomovement than the other, the more rapid compression of that gear will beprevented by the engagement olfvthe side walls of the follower plateswith the easing, which necessitates tlie substantially uniform andparallel movement of the follower plates and consequently aeorrespomiling movement of tiie drait gear units. li' the bufing stressshould exceed the capacity of the draft gear units, the front and rear'follower plates come together and close the spaces between thelongitudinal Walls and the end Walls just before the gearsareoompress'ed solid, thereby causing the transmission of the excessivestress from lthe dran/bar through the follower plates directly 'to'v thedraft `gear easing and conseqnently the. draft gears are protected fromdamage. v

rlt will be' 'noted that the construction of mouette the follower platesis suoli that the front follower plate forns a cradle or carrier platefor supporting the draft vgears', While the space left between theplates on the under Side and at the rear permits of the ready inspectionof the friction strips and the preliminary springs of the friction draftgears.

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire 'to'secure by Letters Patent, is

In a draft ear mechanism, the combination with a raw-bar, of draft gearunits mounted sideby-side and follower plates for said draft gear units7one provided with a lat horizontal member constituting the sole supportfor the draft gear units and having vertical side Walls formingaeliannei Awith the horizontal member and a transverse end member forengaging the draft gear units at one end and the other follower platehaving an upper horizontal member covering the draft gear units,Vertical side Walls adapted to engage theside walls of the firstfollower plate, and a transverse plate :1t-one end for engaging theopposite ends of the draft gear units.

4ln testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand.

CLYDE C. FARMER.- I Witnesses:

WM. Si BARTHOLOMEW, C. J. ULMSTEAD.

